[New treatment of chronic hepatitis B].

Worldwide, 350 million people are infected with chronic hepatitis B. Over the last few years, it has been possible to treat chronic hepatitis B. Treatment very often consists of nucleos(t)ide analogs and in a few cases of pegylated alpha-interferon. In 2007, a new nucleoside analog, Telbivudine, was approved to treat chronic hepatitis B. In phase II and ongoing phase III studies, Telbivudine has proven more effective than the nucleoside analog, Lamivudine, which was very often used up until recently.